Dispensing device

ABSTRACT

Among other things, a dispensing device and/or a refill container are provided. The dispensing device may comprise a dispenser component configured to dispense a refill material. A sensor component may be configured to identify an optical property (e.g., whether an optical brightener is present in the refill material) of the refill material. The dispensing device may evaluate the optical property against an optical profile to determine whether the refill material is a valid refill material (e.g., comprises the optical brightener) or an invalid refill material (e.g., does not comprise the optical brightener). Operation of the dispensing device may be enabled based upon the refill material being the valid refill material. If the refill material comprises the invalid refill material, then operation of the dispensing device may be disabled and/or a flush option (e.g., evacuating the invalid refill material from the dispensing device) may be activated.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of and claims priority to U.S.Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 14/983,782, titled“DISPENSING DEVICE” and filed on Dec. 30, 2015, which claims priority toU.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/097,929, filed on Dec. 30,2014. The entire disclosure of U.S. Non-Provisional patent applicationSer. No. 14/983,782 and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.62/097,929 are hereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The current application pertains to dispensing devices for dispensingmaterial. For example, a dispensing device may dispense refill material,such as soap or other material, based upon whether an optical propertyof the refill material indicates that the refill material is valid(e.g., genuine) or invalid (e.g., not genuine).

BACKGROUND

Many locations, such as hospitals, factories, restaurants, homes, etc.,utilize dispensing devices to dispense material. For example, adispensing device may dispense a liquid material, powder material,aerosol material, and/or other materials (e.g., soap, anti-bacterialgels, cleansers, disinfectants, lotions, etc.). Some dispensing devicesutilize a refill material container for ease of maintenance,environmental concerns, etc. The refill material container may, forexample, comprise a pump and/or nozzle mechanism that can be used by adispensing system to dispense material from the refill materialcontainer.

A manufacturer of a material may utilize one or more distributors toinstall dispensing devices at various end-user locations, and to installrefill material containers provided by the manufacturer intocorresponding dispensing devices. The manufacturer may rely upon adistributor to install a correct and/or genuine refill materialcontainer into a dispensing device. For example, the distributor may beinstructed to install the refill material container such that adispensing device in an operating room of a hospital would dispenseanti-bacterial soap known to provide a particular level of sanitization,as opposed to moisturizer.

SUMMARY

According to an embodiment, a dispensing device for dispensing amaterial may comprise a housing configured to receive a refill material.The dispensing device may comprise a dispenser component, a sensorcomponent, and/or a lockout component. The dispenser component may beconfigured to dispense the refill material (e.g., dispense soap from areservoir or from a refill material container). The sensor component maybe configured to identify an optical property of the refill material.The lockout component may be configured to evaluate the optical propertyagainst an optical profile to determine whether the refill material is avalid refill material or an invalid refill material. In an example,electromagnetic radiation may be passed through the refill material andmay be collected as altered electromagnetic radiation. An opticalproperty, such as an electrical property (e.g., as output by thecollector and corresponding to properties of the altered electromagneticradiation), of the altered electromagnetic radiation may be evaluatedagainst an optical profile range (e.g., a voltage range and/or a currentrange) to determine whether the refill material comprises an opticalbrightener. Responsive to the refill material being the valid refillmaterial (e.g., the refill material comprises the optical brightener),operation of the dispenser component may be enabled. Responsive to therefill material being the invalid refill material (e.g., the refillmaterial not comprising the optical brightener), operation of thedispenser component may be disabled.

According to an embodiment, a method of optical property detection in adispensing device may comprise identifying an optical property presentin a refill material in the dispensing device. The method may compriseevaluating the optical property against an optical profile to determinewhether the refill material is a valid refill material or an invalidrefill material. Responsive to the refill material being a valid refillmaterial, operation of a dispenser component may be enabled. Responsiveto the refill material being an invalid refill material, operation ofthe dispenser component may be disabled.

According to an embodiment, a refill container may comprise a refillmaterial container configured to house a refill material for use in adispensing device. The refill container may comprise a nozzle coupled tothe refill material container. The nozzle may be configured to dispensethe refill material from the refill material container. The refillmaterial may comprise a hygiene material and an optical brighter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments set forth in the drawings are illustrative and exemplaryin nature and not intended to limit the subject matter defined by theclaims. The following description of the illustrative embodiments can beunderstood when read in conjunction with the following drawings.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an example dispensing device, according tosome embodiments.

FIG. 2A is an illustration of an example dispensing device receiving anrefill material comprised within a refill material container, accordingto some embodiments.

FIG. 2B is an illustration of an example dispensing device receiving arefill material, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of an example method of object detection andrecalibration, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of an example computer-readable medium whereinprocessor-executable instructions configured to embody one or more ofthe provisions set forth herein may be comprised.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The claimed subject matter is now described with reference to thedrawings, wherein like reference numerals are generally used to refer tolike elements throughout. In the following description, for purposes ofexplanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providean understanding of the claimed subject matter. It is evident, however,that the claimed subject matter can be practiced without these specificdetails. In other instances, structures and devices are illustrated inblock diagram form in order to facilitate describing the claimed subjectmatter.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a dispensing system 100, comprising adispensing device 104. The dispensing device 104 may comprise a housing102 configured to hold a refill material container comprising a refillmaterial (e.g., a liquid material, a powder material, an aerosolmaterial, an antibacterial product, medicine, etc.). The housing 102 maycomprise various mechanical and/or electrical components that facilitateoperation of the dispensing device 104, such as one or more componentsthat dispense material from the refill material container. In anexample, the housing 102 may comprise a dispenser component 118. Thedispenser component 118 may comprise an actuator 110, a power source112, a motor 106, a drivetrain 108 (e.g., a gear train), and/or othercomponents (e.g., a pump 114 and/or a dispenser nozzle 116 associatedwith the refill material container). The power source 112 (e.g., abattery, an AC adapter, power from a powered network communication line,etc.) may provide power to the actuator 110, the motor 106, and/or othercomponents. The actuator 110 may be configured to detect a dispenserequest. The actuator 110 may be configured to invoke the motor 106 tooperate the drivetrain 108 so that the pump 114 dispenses material fromthe refill material container through the dispenser nozzle 116 (e.g.,responsive to the dispense request).

As provided herein, the dispenser component 118 may dispense the refillmaterial if the refill material is a valid refill material (e.g., agenuine refill material comprising an optical brightener) and mayrefrain from dispensing the refill material if the refill material is aninvalid refill material (e.g., a non-genuine refill material lacking theoptical brightener). The validity of the refill material may bedetermined based upon an optical property of the refill materialcorresponding to an optical profile, such as a optical profile rangespecified by the optical profile (e.g., an optical brightener in therefill material may alter electromagnetic radiation that passes throughthe refill material relative to electromagnetic radiation that passesthrough a refill material that does not comprise the opticalbrightener).

FIGS. 2A-2B illustrate a dispensing device 200 for dispensing a refillmaterial 212. The dispensing device 200 may comprise a housing 202. Thehousing 202 may be configured to receive the refill material 212 (e.g.,a sanitizing substance, a hygiene material, etc.).

FIG. 2A illustrates the dispensing device 200 comprising a refillmaterial container 210. The refill material container 210 may comprisethe refill material 212 (e.g., a refill bag comprising soap), and therefill material container 210 may be installed into the housing 202. Therefill material container 210 may comprise a transparent (e.g., a lightpermeable) container. The refill material container 210, comprising anozzle 218, may be inserted into the housing 202. The refill materialcontainer 210 and/or the dispensing device 200 may comprise a pumpand/or nozzle mechanism used to dispense the refill material 212 fromthe refill material container 210. For example, a dispenser component228 may be configured to dispense the refill material 212 through thenozzle 218.

The refill material container 210 may interact with a sensor component204. The sensor component 204 may comprise an emitter 206, a collector208, and/or an optical detector 214. The emitter 206 may be configuredto emit electromagnetic radiation 205 (e.g., a visible light signal, anultra violet (UV) signal, an infrared (IR) signal, etc.) toward therefill material 212. The collector 208 (e.g., a photodiode) may bedisposed diametrically opposite the emitter 206 relative to the refillmaterial 212. The collector 208 may be configured to detect theelectromagnetic radiation 205. The collector 208 may absorb luminescentphotons from the electromagnetic radiation 205 and convert theluminescent photons into a voltage and/or a current indicative of anoptical property.

The optical detector 214 may be operably coupled to the collector 208and configured to determine a change in the optical property of theelectromagnetic radiation 205 due to an interaction of theelectromagnetic radiation 205 with the refill material 212 between theemitter 206 and the collector 208. In this way, the optical detector 214may be configured to identify the optical property of the refillmaterial 212 between the emitter 206 and the collector 208.

The collector 208 may generate a readout signal. The readout signal maybe a function of the interaction of the electromagnetic radiation 205and the refill material 212, as detected by the collector 208 (e.g., adifference in the electromagnetic radiation 205 as emitted by theemitter 206 and as collected by the collector 208). In an example, theelectromagnetic radiation 205 may be altered by the interaction of theelectromagnetic radiation 205 with the refill material 212, thusresulting in an altered electromagnetic radiation 205 a. The controller208 may output the altered electromagnetic radiation 205 a as a voltage(e.g., a voltage measured in millivolts (mV) in the readout signal. Apulse in the readout signal, generated by the collector 208, may beindicative of the optical property. The optical property may be comparedwith an optical profile to determine whether the optical property (e.g.,an electrical property derived from the pulse of the readout signal) iswithin an optical profile range (e.g., a voltage range, and/or a currentrange). The optical property being within the optical profile range maybe indicative of an optical brightener (e.g., a chlorine basedbrightener) being present within the refill material 212. The opticalproperty may be indicative of an amount of the optical brightener thatis present within the refill material 212. In an example, the opticalproperty approaching a higher end of the optical profile range, may beindicative of a higher amount of the optical brightener in the refillmaterial 212. The optical property approaching a lower end of theoptical profile range may be indicative of a lesser amount of theoptical brightener in the refill material 212. In an example, theoptical profile range may be between about 0.5 mV to about 1.0 mV or anyother voltage.

A lockout component 216 may determine whether the optical property ofthe altered electromagnetic radiation 205 a may be within the opticalprofile range, thus indicating whether the refill material 212 comprisesthe optical brightener (e.g., presence of the optical brightener mayindicate a genuineness of the refill material 212). Responsive to theoptical property (e.g., a voltage) of the altered electromagneticradiation 205 a being within the optical profile range, the refillmaterial 212 may be determined to be a valid refill material. Based uponthe refill material 212 being determined to be the valid refillmaterial, the lockout component 216 may enable the dispenser component228 to dispense the refill material 212.

Responsive to the optical property of the altered electromagneticradiation 205 a being outside of the optical profile range (e.g., due toa lack of optical brightener, too much optical brightener, not enoughoptical brightener, etc.), the refill material 212 may be determined tobe an invalid refill material (e.g., not genuine). Based upon the refillmaterial 212 being determined to be the invalid refill material, anindicator 220 may provide an invalid refill alert (e.g., a blinkinglight, a message sent over a network to a user interface or computer, anaudio alert, a visual alert, etc.).

Based upon the refill material 212 being determined to be the invalidrefill material, the lockout component 216 may disable 222 the dispensercomponent 228 from dispensing the refill material 212. The dispensercomponent 228 may be disabled 222 by disabling the nozzle 218 (e.g.,sealing the refill material container 210) and/or disabling othercomponents, such as a pump, an actuator, a motor, etc. Responsive to thelockout component 216 disabling 222 the dispenser component 228, therefill material container 210 may be removed and/or ejected (e.g., adoor or cover of the housing 202 may not latch shut until the invalidrefill material is removed).

FIG. 2B illustrates the dispensing device 200 comprising the housing 202configured to receive the refill material 212 in a housing container 224(e.g., a reservoir). The refill material 212 may be received through ashunt 203 (e.g., an opening in the housing 202) leading to the housingcontainer 224. The sensor component 204 may be situated such that theemitter 206 may emit the electromagnetic radiation 205 towards therefill material 212 in the shunt 203 and/or in the housing container 224(not shown). For example, the shunt 203 and/or the housing container 224may be situated between the emitter 206 and the collector 208 so thatthe electromagnetic radiation 205 may pass through the refill material212. The collector 208 may be disposed diametrically opposite theemitter 206 relative to the refill material 212. The sensor component204 may identify the optical property of the refill material 212.

The lockout component 216 may determine whether the optical property ofthe altered electromagnetic radiation 205 a may be within the opticalprofile range (e.g., if the optical property is within the opticalprofile range, then the refill material 212 may comprise the validrefill material, such as genuine material, otherwise, the refillmaterial 212 may comprise the invalid refill material, such asnon-genuine material). The lockout component 216 may enable thedispenser component 228 to dispense the refill material 212 based uponthe refill material 212 being determined to be the valid refillmaterial.

Based upon the refill material 212 being determined to be the invalidrefill material, the indicator 220 may provide the invalid refill alert.The lockout component 216 may disable 226 the dispenser component 228from receiving and/or dispensing the refill material 212. In an example,the shunt 203 may be disabled 226 such as being closed so that theinvalid refill material may not flow into the housing container 224. Inanother example, the lockout component 216 may disable 222 the dispensercomponent 228 by disabling the nozzle 218 and/or other components suchas a pump, an actuator, a motor, etc. Responsive to the lockoutcomponent 216 disabling 222 the dispenser component 228, a flush optionmay be activated. The flush option may be configured to evacuate theinvalid refill material from the dispensing device 200. The invalidrefill material may be evacuated through the nozzle 218 and/or throughthe shunt 203, such as by using the pump 114, as illustrated in FIG. 1.

It may be appreciated that while FIGS. 2A-2B illustrate theelectromagnetic radiation 205 being emitted in a relatively linear pathfrom the emitter 206 to the collector 208, such as the photodiode, inother embodiments, the sensor component 208 may be configured as areflective type sensor. In a reflective type sensor, the electromagneticradiation 205, emitted from the emitter 206, follows a relativelynon-linear path to the collector 208. For example, the emitter 206 andthe collector 208 may be disposed on a same side of the refill material212, and a reflective material may be disposed on the diametricallyopposite side of the refill material 212 relative to the emitter 206 andthe collector 208. In such embodiments, the reflective material reflectsthe electromagnetic radiation 205 emitted from the emitter 206 towardthe collector 208, for example.

FIG. 3 illustrates a method 300 of optical property detection in adispensing device. At 302, the method 300 starts. The dispensing devicemay dispense a material (e.g., a sanitizing substance, a hygienesubstance, etc.) utilizing a dispenser component. In an example, thematerial may comprise a refill material within a refill materialcontainer or within a reservoir of the dispensing device. At 304, anoptical property of the refill material may be identified. The opticalproperty may be identified by a sensor component.

At 306, the optical property may be evaluated against an optical profileto determine whether the refill material is a valid refill material oran invalid refill material. The optical property may be indicative ofwhether an optical brightener is present in the refill material.Responsive to the optical brightener being present above an opticalbrightener threshold (e.g., a threshold concentration of opticalbrightener detected by the sensor component based upon the opticalproperty), the refill material may be determined to comprise the validrefill material. Responsive to the optical brightener being presentbelow the optical brightener threshold, the refill material may bedetermined to comprise the invalid refill material.

At 308, responsive to the refill material being the valid refillmaterial, operation of a dispenser component may be enabled. Whileenabled, the dispenser component may dispense the refill materialresponsive to a dispense request. At 310, responsive to the refillmaterial being the invalid refill material, operation of the dispensercomponent may be disabled (e.g., the material may not be dispensedresponsive to the dispense request), thus preventing the invalidmaterial from being dispensed by the dispenser component. Responsive tothe refill material being the invalid refill material, the invalidrefill material may be evacuated from the dispensing device and/or anindicator may be activated to indicate that the refill material is theinvalid refill material. At 312, the method 300 ends.

Still another embodiment involves a computer-readable medium comprisingprocessor-executable instructions configured to implement one or more ofthe techniques presented herein. An example embodiment of acomputer-readable medium or a computer-readable device that is devisedin these ways is illustrated in FIG. 4, wherein the implementation 400comprises a computer-readable medium 408, such as a CD-R, DVD-R, flashdrive, a platter of a hard disk drive, etc., on which is encodedcomputer-readable data 406. This computer-readable data 406, such asbinary data comprising at least one of a zero or a one, in turncomprises a set of computer instructions 404 configured to operateaccording to one or more of the principles set forth herein. In someembodiments, the processor-executable computer instructions 404 areconfigured to perform a method 402, such as at least some of theexemplary method 300 of FIG. 3, for example. In some embodiments, theprocessor-executable instructions 404 are configured to implement asystem, such as at least some of the exemplary dispensing device 100 ofFIG. 1, and/or at least some of the exemplary sensing device 200 ofFIGS. 2A-2B, for example. Many such computer-readable media are devisedby those of ordinary skill in the art that are configured to operate inaccordance with the techniques presented herein.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features or methodological acts, it is to be understood thatthe subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarilylimited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, thespecific features and acts described above are disclosed as exampleforms of implementing at least some of the claims.

Many modifications may be made to the instant disclosure withoutdeparting from the scope or spirit of the claimed subject matter. Unlessspecified otherwise, “first,” “second,” or the like are not intended toimply a temporal aspect, a spatial aspect, an ordering, etc. Rather,such terms are merely used as identifiers, names, etc. for features,elements, items, etc. For example, a first object and a second objectgenerally correspond to object A and object B or two different or twoidentical objects or the same object.

Moreover, “exemplary” is used herein to mean serving as an example,instance, illustration, etc., and not necessarily as advantageous. Asused in this application, “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or”rather than an exclusive “or”. In addition, “a” and “an” as used in thisapplication are generally to be construed to mean “one or more” unlessspecified otherwise or clear from context to be directed to a singularform. Also, at least one of A and B or the like generally means A or Bor both A and B. Furthermore, to the extent that “includes”, “having”,“has”, “with”, or variants thereof are used in either the detaileddescription or the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive in amanner similar to “comprising”.

Also, although the disclosure has been shown and described with respectto one or more implementations, equivalent alterations and modificationswill occur to others skilled in the art based upon a reading andunderstanding of this specification and the annexed drawings. Thedisclosure includes all such modifications and alterations and islimited only by the scope of the following claims. In particular regardto the various functions performed by the above described components(e.g., elements, resources, etc.), the terms used to describe suchcomponents are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, toany component which performs the specified function of the describedcomponent (e.g., that is functionally equivalent), even though notstructurally equivalent to the disclosed structure. In addition, while aparticular feature of the disclosure may have been disclosed withrespect to only one of several implementations, such feature may becombined with one or more other features of the other implementations asmay be desired and advantageous for any given or particular application.

What is claimed is:
 1. A dispensing device for dispensing a material,comprising: a housing configured to receive a refill material; adispenser component configured to dispense the refill material; a sensorcomponent configured to identify an optical property of the refillmaterial; and a lockout component configured to: evaluate the opticalproperty against an optical profile to determine whether the refillmaterial is a valid refill material or an invalid refill material,wherein the refill material is determined to be the valid refillmaterial when the evaluation of the optical property against the opticalprofile determines that the refill material comprises an opticalbrightener; and enable operation of the dispenser component to dispensethe refill material responsive to the refill material being the validrefill material.
 2. The dispensing device of claim 1, wherein the sensorcomponent comprises: an emitter configured to emit electromagneticradiation toward the refill material; and a collector configured todetect electromagnetic radiation that has interacted with the refillmaterial.
 3. The dispensing device of claim 2, comprising: an actuatorconfigured to detect a dispense request, wherein the emitter isconfigured to emit the electromagnetic radiation toward the refillmaterial responsive to the actuator detecting the dispense request. 4.The dispense device of claim 2, wherein the electromagnetic radiation isvisible light.
 5. The dispense device of claim 2, wherein theelectromagnetic radiation is ultraviolet light.
 6. The dispense deviceof claim 2, wherein the electromagnetic radiation is infrared light. 7.The dispensing device of claim 2, wherein the collector is disposeddiametrically opposite the emitter relative to the refill material. 8.The dispense device of claim 1, comprising: an actuator configured todetect a dispense request, wherein the sensor component is configured toinitiate the identification of the optical property of the refillmaterial responsive to the actuator detecting the dispense request. 9.The dispense device of claim 1, wherein the sensor component isconfigured to: generate a signal based upon electromagnetic radiationdetected by the sensor component, the electromagnetic radiation havinginteracted with the refill material; determine a change in theelectromagnetic radiation due to an interaction of the electromagneticradiation with the refill material; and identify the optical property ofthe refill material based upon the change.
 10. The dispensing device ofclaim 1, wherein the refill material is determined to be the validrefill material when the evaluation of the optical property against theoptical profile determines that the refill material comprises aspecified amount of the optical brightener.
 11. The dispensing device ofclaim 1, wherein the lockout component is configured to: disableoperation of the dispenser device responsive to the refill materialbeing the invalid refill material.
 12. The dispensing device of claim 1,wherein the lockout component is configured to: evacuate the invalidrefill material from the dispensing device responsive to the refillmaterial being the invalid refill material.
 13. The dispensing device ofclaim 1, comprising an indicator configured to provide an invalid refillalert responsive to the refill material being the invalid refillmaterial.
 14. A dispensing device for dispensing a material, comprising:a dispenser component configured to dispense a refill material; a sensorcomponent configured to identify an optical property of the refillmaterial; and a lockout component configured to: evaluate the opticalproperty against an optical profile to determine whether the refillmaterial comprises an optical brightener; and enable operation of thedispenser component to dispense the refill material responsive todetermining that the refill material comprises the optical brightener.15. The dispensing device of claim 14, wherein the sensor componentcomprises: an emitter configured to emit electromagnetic radiationtoward the refill material; and a collector configured to detectelectromagnetic radiation that has interacted with the refill material.16. The dispensing device of claim 14, comprising: an actuatorconfigured to detect a dispense request, wherein the sensor component isconfigured to initiate the identification of the optical property of therefill material responsive to the actuator detecting the dispenserequest.
 17. The dispense device of claim 14, wherein the sensorcomponent is configured to: determine a change in electromagneticradiation due to an interaction of the electromagnetic radiation withthe refill material; and identify the optical property of the refillmaterial based upon the change.